Bless the Broken Road
by OliviaOwl14
Summary: Percy is the shy teenager who loves playing his guitar, but is frowned upon for being a musician by his grieving mother, because he reminds her of her estranged husband, who was a musician. Annabeth is the beautiful, slightly nerdy blonde who notices him using the back room of the library to practice his guitar. AU sad
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! It's me, OliviaOwl14. This is one of my newest stories, and I've dubbed it "Bless the Broken Road", after one of my favourite songs by the band Rascal Flatts. The song was actually my inspiration for the title and the storyline, and I think the song is beautifully written. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it. Please review below! Reviews are GREATLY appreciated. Enjoy! :D**

**OliviaOwl14**

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Bless the Broken Road

Annabeth brushed a curl behind her ear as she typed on her laptop. Her purple glasses slid to the end of her nose as she leaned forward to read the end of her narrative.

"And the Nobel Prize for Clichéd Endings goes to..." she muttered under her breath, pressing her finger on the 'backspace' button until the offensive sentence was gone forever.

She sighed and pressed the tips of her forefingers against her temples, barely suppressing a headache and the urge to scream in frustration. She'd been working on her book for at least three months, and she had an extremely bad case of what was commonly known as writer's block.

Pulling her glasses off quickly, she saved her work and shut down the computer. _Enough for one day_, she told herself, mentally quelling the voice that shouted, _No! Keep writing! You're almost there! You're so close! _

Pulling her fraying laptop bag up from the floor by the shoulder strap, she slid her laptop inside it and zipped the bag shut. Swinging it over her shoulder, she tucked her glasses into her case and placed them neatly inside the pocket of her bag. It was these small rituals every time she stopped writing that helped her to subdue that small voice in the back of her head and the strange feeling of guilt rising in her stomach.

_You're betraying your work, _the voice told her now, annoyingly correct. _You should be writing. _

_Shut up,_ Annabeth thought automatically.

She walked towards the entrance of the library, giving the librarian a friendly smile as she did so. She had always been on good terms with the library staff, ever since that first day in grade 1, when she had impressed them by listing the whole seven books of Harry Potter's storyline, and then, when they questioned her, confessing that yes, she had read the entire series before having reached six years of age, and yes, she was in the advanced reading group.

Obviously, they had only let the first graders read up to the third book in the series at her school, so she'd harangued and harassed her father until he'd read the last four books to her. But she hadn't been about to tell the librarians that.

As she reached the doors, she subconsciously began humming a tune that seemed familiar to her.

_I set out on a narrow way many years ago_

_Hoping I would find true love along the broken road_

_But I got lost a time or two_

_Wiped my brow and kept pushing through_

_I couldn't see how every sign pointed straight to you_

She stopped, amazed, as she realized that the tune wasn't inside her head. It was coming from the back of the library.

The strains of a guitar being gently strummed floated through the library, but the oblivious librarian, with her earphones in, didn't even look up. _Why not? _the voice challenged her. If it was a person, Annabeth could have sworn it would have raised it's eyebrows in mockery. _Go investigate. You know you want to. _

_Fine then, _she answered, her curiosity winning over. She glanced at the librarian, and then quietly walked behind several large bookshelves to get to the back of the library.

She tucked the stray curl behind her ear again as paused outside the door the music was coming from. She listened closely. Not bad, by the sounds of things. Whoever was playing was actually pretty good.

She knocked quietly on the door, and heard the music stop abruptly.

The door squeaked open, and a pair of green eyes stared at her through the gap, the face shadowed from the dim light within the room.

"Yes, miss?" the boy questioned. "Is there a problem?" Annabeth winced. "I'm not a librarian. I was just listening to the music." The door opened a crack wider.

"Oh yeah?" he questioned her, a fringe of black hair showing through the crack. He bit his lip. "Any good?"

"Definitely!" Annabeth enthused. "'Bless the Broken Road', by Rascal Flatts, right?"

The door opened wider. "Yeah. It was. How'd you know?"

Annabeth's eyes widened a fraction. The boy playing the guitar was Percy Jackson.

"I listen to that song all the time," she confessed, amazed. Who'd have known? He was the shyest boy at school. She wouldn't have ever guessed that he had this amazing talent hidden away.

"Hey," he questioned her. "What's your name?"

She smiled. "Annabeth Chase."

"Nice to meet you, Annabeth Chase," he said, solemnly holding his hand out. She shook it, feeling how surreal that moment was. "I'm Percy Jackson."

She smiled. "Yeah. I've seen you around."

"You too," he smiled at her, and backed into the room. Seconds later, he was out, shutting the door behind him, a zipped-up guitar case in hand. He smiled at her again. "Well, I'd better go. Bye."

"Bye." She watched him leave, feeling as though the heart of the feeling she had just experienced was walking out the door, with a guitar case in his hand.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, guys. It's me again, OliviaOwl14 ****. This is the second chapter of one of my newest stories, "Bless the Broken Road". Again, if you like it, favourite or follow my story, or me and please, please, please review! Reviews are **_**always **_**greatly appreciated. Enjoy!**

**OliviaOwl14**

* * *

_Stop it,_ the voice in her head told her. _He may not be coming back for a couple of days more. _You_ don't know. But hanging around the library with no _reason _to hang around the library is making you look foolish and desperate. _

Annabeth shushed the voice, biting her lip in desperation as she scanned the library once more, whilst pretending to look for a book.

She'd been coming to the library nearly every day, wanting, _needing_, to hear his music again. She'd _loved _the song he'd played that day and now she couldn't stop herself from listening out for him again. And again. And again. For five days consecutively. But so far, he hadn't come back.

She dropped the book she was holding, earning herself a whispered _'hush'_ from the librarian at the desk. She nodded and smiled, and the librarian went back to reading _'Twilight'_ under the desk.

"Trashy book," Annabeth muttered, clucking her tongue in disapproval. She'd read it

Something shifted in her peripheral vision, catching her eye. She looked up eagerly, and had to stuff her fist in her mouth to stop from thrusting it in the air in celebration.

A black-clad figure, carrying what appeared to be a heavy guitar case, was making his way stealthily from the back entrance of the library to the back room.

She crept around the bookcases, tripping over a couple of volumes of _How to Cook: 10 Easy Steps _that were lying on the floor: somebody had forgotten to put them back on the bookshelf.

She cursed as the top of her Converse sneaker caught on the edge, and she fell with a soft thump on the floor. Moaning as she got up, she rubbed her elbow and stuffed the offending books back on the shelf where they belonged.

As she muttered darkly about useless librarians, Annabeth peered around the bookcase, just in time to see the door of the back room click shut.

She grinned and inched her way towards the door he'd just closed.

She'd positioned herself just outside it, inside an alcove she'd discovered in the past five days. She placed herself just so, so she would be hidden by shadow, but she could still hear the strains of guitar escaping under the door.

She hummed silently to herself, the lyrics floating through her head in time with the music.

_Every long lost dream led me to where you are_

_Others who broke my heart they were like Northern stars_

_Pointing me on my way into your loving arms_

_This much I know is true_

_That God blessed the broken road_

_That led me straight to you_

Annabeth closed her eyes and let the music just drift over her. She hadn't felt that relaxed in years.

Suddenly, the door opened, and Annabeth's eyes shot open in alarm as a thin arm shot out, grabbed her and dragged her into the room.

The door closed behind her, and she blinked in the sudden light.

Percy Jackson stood in front of her, arms folded. "You know, if you wanted to listen," he said, conversationally. "You could've just asked."

Annabeth shuffled her feet uncertainly. "What?"

"I could hear you falling over from here," he told her, raising an eyebrow. "Seriously, why didn't you just ask?"

She shuffled again. "I didn't want to get rejected," she admitted, quietly. "I wouldn't have rejected you," he informed her. "I love it that you like my music."

"Really?" she asked, nervous excitement building in her stomach. "Can you play that song again?"

Percy nodded and sat down on a chair, picking up the guitar next to him.

As the strains of the guitar filled the room once more, Annabeth sunk on to the floor and closed her eyes, happy to listen.


End file.
